Candidates For Judgeship Narrowed Spokane Bar Association’s Top Picks Out Of The Running

A state representative and two criminal defense attorneys are the finalists for a Spokane County judgeship.

County commissioners, who will make the appointment, are set to interview the three District Court candidates next week.

They are:

Republican Rep. Mike Padden, 48, an eight-term legislator. The Spokane Valley resident is a lawyer with a civil practice.

Scott Mason, 39, a Spokane County assistant public defender. A lawyer since 1981, Mason ran unsuccessfully last fall against District Court Judge Donna Wilson.

Greg Sypolt, 45, also an assistant public defender. Sypolt, who has been practicing law for 17 years, ran for a District Court seat in 1984, losing to Judge Richard J. Richard.

“I feel real comfortable with all three of them,” said Commissioner Steve Hasson.

Twenty-one candidates applied for the $92,000-a-year post.

Surprising some observers, the top two choices of Spokane lawyers - Clark Colwell and Harold D. Clarke III were ruled out.

Clarke is a relative unknown to commissioners, and Colwell, retired chief criminal deputy prosecutor, can’t match the high energy level of the finalists, according to Hasson.

Mason and Sypolt recently tied for third in the Spokane County Bar Association poll. Padden’s low overall score shoved him down the list to No. 17.

The candidates are vying to replace Raymond Tanksley Jr., who died of cancer.

The appointee must run in the next general election to win a full, four-year term.

Commissioners last appointed a District Court judge in December 1990, when Richard White was picked.